In 2014, DARPA released a Broad Agency Announcement for the STOIC program, inviting private companies to compete. STOIC aims to develop a backup positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) capability. The program is comprised of three technical areas that when integrated have the potential to provide global PNT, including long-range robust reference signals, ultra-stable tactical clocks, and multifunctional systems that provide PNT information between cooperative users. Phase I of the reference signal technical area focused on using very low frequency (VLF) radio frequency (RF) signals to provide robust ranging in support of earth-fixed positioning.

During STOIC Phase I, ENSCO worked closely with the prime Leidos and other team members to design a new class of VLF transmitters to be used for global VLF. ENSCO’s primary role was the design of navigation signals to achieve DARPA’s positioning requirements, and at the same time optimize VLF transmitter performance.

“ENSCO has made significant investment in the development of RF based PNT technology,” said Boris Nejikovsky, ENSCO President. “ENSCO PNT expertise helped the team to adjust to evolving customer requirements and successfully complete Phase 1. We are looking forward to working with Leidos on Phases II and III of this exciting DARPA project.”

The Phase II award is a follow-on to Phase I to develop the detailed design; Phase III is a real-time demonstration of a VLF positioning system. ENSCO’s engineering task in Phase II is to further enhance and test adaptive interference mitigation algorithms in post-processing. In Phase III, ENSCO algorithms will be integrated into the DARPA navigation system for real-time demonstrations.

About ENSCO, Inc.

ENSCO, Inc., and its wholly owned subsidiaries represent a $100 million international technology enterprise, headquartered in the Washington, D.C., area. For almost 50 years, the ENSCO group of companies has been providing ingenious engineering, scientific and advanced technology solutions that guarantee mission success, safety and security to governments and private industries around the world. ENSCO operates in the defense, transportation, aerospace and intelligence sectors. Field offices and subsidiaries, representatives and partnerships are located throughout the United States and the world. Learn more